jamaicabride10

We stopped in Antigua for a day on a cruise & we both said it had the most beautiful white sand beaches we have ever seen! St. Lucia was the most tropical, but the beaches not as white. I say go for it. You will love it!

Hi Sara. We are doing exactly the same as you. Our ceremony is at 4pm in Sandals Negril & I am planning for us to have a private 3 hour reception on the beach starting at 6.30 at a cost of $75ph, AND we too have to pay for our guest day passes!!! After the ceremony we are going to have a steel drum soloist for an hour in the 'cocktail hour area' wherever that will be (I think when we arrive we can look at some areas around the hotel & let the wedding co-ordinator know where we want it), and our guests can just mingle & chat & have a few drinks while they wait. Also there will be hot & cold hor's d'ouvers (sp?) for them to nibble away on to keep them from starving! lol. I certainly don't think 1 and a half hours is a long time to wait during celebrations. It will fly by for them &, as said previously, give everyone a chance to freshen up in some air-con! I think the extra cost for the private reception is worth the extra cash as they set up all your area, give you a private plated meal, have a private bar set up beside you & you get all of the wait staff/bar service just for your party! No waiting & good personal service. But if you need to keep on budget then the free option in a restaurant would certainly help!

Thanks girls! Yeah I definitely feel the benefits of this site already! I'm already copying & pasting ideas into lists & (like you Christie) suddenly feel the urge to 'get organised'!!! lol, ah bless us...what will we be like closer to the time if we're this bad now! hahaha I think the only reason I felt comfortable booking without seeing the room IS because it's Sandals, so fingers crossed x. To be honest I'll probably be spending all my time on the beach anyway..that is the reason we're going to Jamaica after all :-)

Try this link: Invitation Wording Samples by InvitationConsultants.com - Eloped for invitation wording when you get back to invite your guests to the reception. I wouldn't do it more than 3 months after. We are going away with a few family/friends & holding a reception at home after for people who couldn't travel, buffet finger food evening party only. Works out cheaper than full reception & still get to see everyone. I wouldn't do the shower before you go tho as none of the potential attendees will be going to the wedding. you could have a lunch or something with your best friends just before you go-informally?

There are some great pics of the hotels on tripadvisor! I had a similar problem with my mother. She was less than enthused to have to travel from Ireland to Jamaica to see her only daughter get married! So I called over a couple of times with my laptop and started showing her pic's of the hotels, beaches & areas. Also had to re-assure her the travel was not going to be tough, hey as long as she can walk through an airport & sit in a chair watching movies (air travel)...it's really not hard to travel, it's just a matter of time. I keep telling her that while she's not OLD she probably won't get the chance to see somewhere so beautiful & experience such a different culture ever again! Now she can't wait! She even called me one day to tell me she watched a travel show about Jamaica. Go to trip advisor with her there & read some of the (Good) reviews to her & show her pic's. It's tough but just try to make it sound like it will be the best holiday ever!!!

I think we are going to do it after dinner as I have heard that sometimes the party never actually gets going unless you start it off. I suppose it depends on how many people are joining you and if you want a party atmosphere after the dinner? And also if you are having your reception in a private/public area. Also we are not doing the father/daughter or other dances. My MOH has planned to get everyone up to join us after our song for a boogie . We are having a private reception on the beach, so no small restaurant spaces to worry about

Hi Becki! We just managed to book our hotel today yet our wedding date is March 2011. We are sending out save the dates in a few weeks to give our guests LOADS of time to save. We did not think we were going to be able to book until next year and were still planning to send the STD's now without an actual date on it. Wording along the lines of '...plan to get married March 2011...Date, formal invitations & travel arrangements to follow'. Then we will send the formal invitations 10-11 months before again just to give plenty of notice! I reckon if you know which month you want & which year then send STD's asap with only this info. If it changes you can put it on the formals.

As far as I know from reading posts here they take as many pics as you need & you pick the number you want to buy. They will show you a presentation slide-show a day or two after and you then have to pick the ones you like. As far as I've heard this is the hardest part!! If you don't want to get a package you can pick from the a-la-carte photo menu. You don't have to decide until you get there. Even if you want to buy a package now you can still pick that after you get there, maybe after you have seen some samples of their work'?'

Thanks Vonnie! I know I was so shocked I could book. I didn't expect to be able to do anything until next year!. Now the saving shall commence!!

WOW. It will be a strange world without him. Imagine never being able to look forward to seeing him in concert again....RIP MJ

Never mind! We booked anyway & spoke to the sales manager at the resort. We are getting special permission to have the child stay for the reception as long as we go for the private one, which we were going to anyway! And found out that while sandals guests do have exchange privileges with Beaches, it does not work the other way so we will have to pay day passes for all the guests staying at Beaches.

WOW I can't believe I just got us booked for Sandals Negril for March 28th 2011 !!! Only thing is we have booked a room that I have not seen a picture of . Uh oh! Its the 'honeymoon penthouse ocean view one bedroom plantation suite with whirlpool'...man they have long names for the categories! LOL. Has anyone stayed in one or have a pic I could see so I'm not freaking out!! haha I still cannot believe they have released the rates & I got in before the sale ended! Soooo thrilled. I'm so excited but no one else is...I'm like 'woo hoo were booked', and everyone I tell is like 'oh thats nice', even him!!! Is it just because It's so far in advance? or did anyone else get this response? xx

Woo hoo! We just Booked! 28th March 2011! Delighted the rates were released b4 the sale ended. Got 75% off!! WOW!

Congrats on finding your resort and . We will be going to Negril too but not until 2011. Enjoy the planning!!

Thanks for sharing. I love the brochures. The info on them is great! Looks like you had an amazing time!

Wow they're fab!! Wish I had thought of something like that for ours!! So creative of you Liz, well done!

Congrats Sarah. This forum is amazing! You should find everything you need. Welcome!

I want to do a registry as we already have a house & everything we need, so we really do not want tonnes of stuff with nowhere to put it. It is quite uncommon to do this over here (Ireland/England), so I know NO ONE will ask where we are registered!! I don't know how to let people know without sounding like we expect gifts! I definitely don't want to put it on the invitation and I think telling everyone by WOM is a bit like 'asking' too....any thoughts??

We are planning to have the wedding in Negril and spend the week with family & friends and head straight home, then have a party back home for the people who couldn't travel & then head off on honeymoon to Maldives and Dubai. It's beginning to look like the HM is going to cost more than the wedding!!! So we are not going to plan anything until we see what the finances are like much closer to the time. I am getting some great inspiration from you ladies & now think staying a little longer in Jamaica and having the dream honeymoon on our 1st anniversary is a fab idea!!! I love this forum!!!

Lovely pic's!! Congratulations and thanks for posting!!

Hi Everyone!! Great ideas here. I always bring a ziplock plastic bag with me to keep watches/camera sand free when they are in the beach bag. A cheap food bag does a great job. Also works for wet swim suits! I never go tropical without some kind of powder for the very aptly named 'chub rub'! A pair of light cotton leggings that you can cut as short as you need also work like cotton pair of bike shorts & work great under dresses! If you have a small citronella candle light it at night in the room before bed, or on the balcony...Nothing worse than a mosquito-bitten bride!!! plus candles are super romantic anyway!

We decided to have an engagement party 1 month after our engagement. We booked a restaurant to have just the 2 families & asked everyone else to join us for drinks in a reserved area of a bar in a nice hotel. No formal invitations, only food for the families. We just wanted to celebrate with a few drinks. Although engagement parties are not well known in Ireland...we even had several people(including my parents) asking what an engagement party is & why do we NEED to have one I had to convince my family to go!!!

We stopped in Montego Bay for 1 day on a cruise and that was it!!! The food & people were so amazing it blew us away! I wanted a chilled out, relaxed wedding...I can't think of anywhere better! Also while we were in Montego Bay, all the locals told us if we were to return we should go to Negril...Sandals Negril it is!!

Congrats &

I have an odd question regarding Sandals (Negril)! So I call Sandals wedding team every time I have an important question and so far have received 2 different answers to 2 questions. If anyone knows the answers to these for definite I would be delighted!! Q1-we have 1 child that will be staying in Beaches & attending our wedding in Sandals Negril. My question was 'is there a time limit he can stay in Sandals for the weding'. I have been told by Sandals that he can only stay for the Ceremony....and later someone else in sandals told me he can stay for Ceremony AND reception! As this is the Groom's brother he MUST be allowed to stay for the meal! Q2-do guests staying at Beaches have to pay for a day pass to come into Sandals for the wedding? I have been told (again by 2 different sandals people) that A:yes they still pay but Sandals guests do not pay into Beaches...and B: No they do not have to pay for day passes & we only have to pay the reception per head fee! How could you stay sane with all this confusion